Yes indeed. The four boys and I went into Walmart a few days ago for the sole purpose of buying vodka. A gallon of it.

I felt the need to tell the check out lady why I was buying an entire gallon of vodka. She just looked at me like I was a lunatic and shrugged as if to say, “Hey, do whatever you want to with your vodka, girl.”

And then she wouldn’t let Justus carry it out of the store. You know…just in case I was buying the vodka for my nine year old minor.

It made for some good discussion on the way home: what drinking alcohol can do to your brain…why the lady had to make sure I was over 21 to buy it…why it’s okay to carry a watermelon out of Walmart when you’re nine but not a couple jugs of vodka.

All that to say: I just started my very first batch of homemade vanilla!!! I’m super excited. My friend Jill sent me a beautiful bottle of her homemade vanilla a couple of weeks ago and it’s fabulous!!! (I guess you could say that I was pressured by a friend into buying alcohol. “Go ahead Laura…make your own vanilla. Everyone’s doing it.”)

Now that I’m hooked on the idea…I thought I’d try to influence you too…

What You Need to Make Homemade Vanilla Extract

A gallon jar
One gallon of Vodka (the cheap stuff is fine) (To keep you from standing in the liquor section too long to calculate this…2 bottles of 1.75 liters each will be the exact amount you need to make a gallon of vanilla.)50-80 Vanilla Beans (You’ll need about 1/2 – 3/4 pound) – enter code home for a 20% discount on Vanilla Beans through Olive Nation!!
Kitchen shears

Begin by slicing through each bean lengthwise, leaving about one inch at the top of each bean uncut so that it stays together.

See? Like this…

Place all of your cut Vanilla Beans into your jar.

Fill the jar with vodka. (I took the following picture with my left hand while pouring the vodka with my right hand. This proves that apparently…I can really handle my liquor.)

Once the jar is full with beans and vodka, put the lid on…then put the jar in a dark place (like in the back of a cabinet). It needs to stay there for FOUR to SIX MONTHS in order to become vanilla extract! Occasionally, you should get it out and shake it up a bit, then put it back into it’s dark place.

Here’s the cool thing: If you start a batch of vanilla really soon, it will be ready in time to put into little bottles and give as Christmas gifts. (Family members reading this – you have exactly six months to forget all about this post and be surprised on Christmas morning.) If you don’t get it started right this minute, from what I’ve researched, a little less than six months of “vanilla extracting” time won’t hurt anything.

To complete your vanilla once four-six months have passed: strain out your vanilla beans with a coffee filter lined colander and tada…you have vanilla extract! Bottle it up in dark amber bottles – give it as gifts and start cooking with it yourself!! Yum!

AND…if you don’t want to make a whole gallon of vanilla…you can make a lesser amount:

1 quart of vanilla…use one quart of vodka and 10-15 Vanilla Beans (enter code home for a 20% discount!)

Well…I know I’ve influenced many of you to eat healthier and plant potatoes in a container. Is it now possible that several of you are going to run out to buy liquor? Tell the clerk the Heavenly Homemaker sent you.
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Comments

I remember being carded the first time I bought beer for homemade beer bread. I almost felt guilty, and I ended up explaining to the cashier that I was making bread with it. They do look at you like you have two heads when you explain your alcohol purchases!

Thanks for the GREAT gift idea!! I have some foodie friends who would really appreciate this. Do you have any idea what the shelf life of the vanilla is once it becomes extract?

Not only was this an informative post, but also quite hilarious. “handle your liquor well” hahahahah! good one. :)

I have been wanting to try this, but didn’t really know what type of vodka to buy. Is there good stuff? bad stuff? I even heard of potato vodka once? Is there organic vodka? Does it matter? Too many options. I like your comment of “the cheap stuff is fine” – that helped! thank you!

All I know is that I was told that it just really didn’t matter about the quality of vodka. You’d think I might have looked for organic (is there such thing as organic vodka?). I was mostly just trying to hurry out of the liquor aisle.

I really like your tutorial on homemade bread, and you linked here. But, I saw this and had to say that yes…there is such thing as Organic Vodka. A friend got some as a gift or something, and as a joke gave it to me, because they are almost anti-organic, where I’m working on being full blown organic, :)

Ok, I think I can help you out a little bit. All alcohol is made by fermenting some type of grain, fruit, etc. Vodka is made by fermenting potatoes. I’m not sure about organic vodka, but I know they make organic beer, so organic vodka might exist. As far as the kind, don’t get anything with flavor, just the regular stuff. More expensive vodka tastes better and is supposed to be less likely to give you a hangover. Since you obviously won’t be drinking copious amounts of vanilla, your best bet is to go with the absolute cheapest vodka you can find. As I understand it, it is the quality of the vanilla beans, not the quality of the alcohol makes vanilla taste good.

I love it! Here in Montana you have to go to an actual liquor store to buy hard alcohol, I wanted to do vanilla two Christmases ago, and it took me a while to decide it was actually worth it to go to a liquor store to buy it, but I got bourbon (I think!) instead of vodka. I was 23 and had my newborn with me and didn’t get carded :o)

I posted about doing this too…Wow I feel like you are my soul sister. It’s in my March blog archive. I think I even put down the same whereabouts for buying the vanilla beans. (right now I am humming the theme for the Twilight zone).

I just started my ‘vanilla experiment’ about a week ago. I, too, was scandalized by having to buy vodka. This was my very first alcoholic beverage purchase in all my 40 years. It felt so strange. I also had to explain my purchase to the cashier who was somewhat interested to hear that you can make your own vanilla extract.

I think this will be the Christmas of homemade vanilla along the vein of previous ‘mix in a jar’ and ‘gel air freshener’ crazes. It seems like everybody is doing the vanilla lately.

Interesting post! I’ve never seen homemade vanilla before. And I thought your story was hilarious, especially the part in the comments section about trying to hurry out of the liquor aisle. My husband drinks occasionally but I do not, and he laughs at me because I don’t want anyone to see me looking at or buying alcohol. He’s explained to me that people buy it all the time, and aren’t even going to give it a second thought when they see someone else buying it, but I still won’t buy it. Good thing I don’t like the stuff!

Laura you are hilirious! This is amazing too…I was just telling my hubby how easy it is to MAKE the crazy expensive vanilla (I think I saw Cheeseslave make it), but how hard it would be for me to buy vodka! I might just have to go buy it now!
So, does this make it organic? What would?

This reminds me of buying hard alcohol to have around for sore throats. The lady was impressed, “Who told you about drinking brandy for sore throats, Hon?” I got the blackberry flavored kind. It not only disinfects and numbs the throat, it puts me to sleep too (so nice when you’re sick). Too bad I couldn’t use it while I was pregnant! The smallest bottle I could buy is still going to last us a long time. And it was a very scary feeling going into the liquor part of the store to buy it. I just KNEW someone I knew was going to run into me on my way in or out (they didn’t).

I’ll have to look into doing this myself. I suppose the same concept would work with mint or lemon and such?

Wow. That’s just about all I can say. Wow. I am SO making my own vanilla this weekend! I love the idea of giving it as a Christmas gift..I can just see it…pretty packaging and trying to convince my family I did infact make these and NO I did not tip the bottle a little. Bookmarked and Stumbled! I cannot forget this! Thanks!
Oh, and you are too funny! I will be back!

I’ve seen this same thing blogged about before, by a family who’s been doing this for awhile. BUT – their recipe is considerably different… I think it was 3 or 4 beans per ‘jug’, and they let it sit for 3 or more months. I’m currently making a batch that way right now.

Now I’m worried, though… That’s a pretty big difference!

Here’s the link, if you want. (oh, it looks like her bottle is smaller, but still far fewer vanilla beans)

This is funny– about 3 weeks ago I went out and bought vodka and rum for making vanilla. And I felt like I needed to explain myself too. BUT. I didn’t buy a GALLON. I bought a couple smaller bottles, and it’s just for us around the house. For VANILLA. I read that rum or whiskey work for vanilla, so I decided to try it. We’ll see! It really does work out cheaper than buying the good vanilla extract, doesn’t it?

I bought vanilla beans a couple of months ago and still haven’t bought the Vodka! I keep forgetting, and our Wal-Mart apparently doesn’t have a license to carry it. :-) I was just telling my husband that I have to remember to buy some so I can get this stuff going – you’ve inspired me!

Laura I feel your pain! I buy vodka to make vodka cream pasta sauce. My husband and I don’t drink at all so I was really embarassed to be purchasing vodka. ESPECIALLY, when the clerk wouldn’t let me buy it because it was 5am. I tried to explain that it was for pasta sauce but I am pretty sure she thought I was a lush as she grabbed it out of my hands :) Totally embarassing!!!! I don’t grocery shop at 5am anymore!

PS: My mom (Jill) gave me some of her vanilla, too, and boy is it yummy :)

This post is TOO FUNNY, as are all the comments!!! I think I’m going to send my husband to WalMart to get me some Vodka – I’m certainly not going to buy it, because the Pastor’s mother will probably be there and see me, my b/p would skyrocket from embarrassment, and I too would feel that I need to explain myself to the check-out clerk!!!

QUESTION – what types of bottles do you put these in and where do you purchase them? I’ve saved my Simply Organic Vanilla bottles (just in case I needed them for something!), but I won’t have enough to use as gifts and I’m not sure it would be ok to give them ‘used’ bottles . . .

I think one of those large pickle jars would be the perfect size, but you would have to purchase the pickles and in our house that would be a waste because we rarely eat pickles. Maybe you could call a local restaurant and see if they have any large jars they are throwing out.

This is the Jill who gave Laura the homemade vanilla. Just a couple of things. The more beans the richer the flavor. You can always add more beans if you started it and dont feel like you have enough in your jar. Second, do take out the beans at the end of the 6 months. Now, what to do with those beans?

Do NOT throw them away. Now you can make vanilla sugar. It is much like cinammon sugar but yummier. Take all the beans out and strain the vanilla through a coffee filter. It will take out the little caviar left. Now, put all the beans on a cookie sheet and leave on the counter at room temperature for 3-4 days. They will change color and dry out which is what you want. Now buy sugar. Sorry Laura I used white sugar. Put sugar in a large container and add the beans and close. Please make sure the beans are dry. I let them sit 5 days, it wont matter. In just a few days you have vanilla sugar that you can sprinkle on anything you want sweet.I am using some for snickerdoodles. You have enough to make 15 # of vanilla sugar. Now go to your local grocery store and purchase a little jar that shakes. Fill it and put a pretty label on it and give it as the second gift with the vanilla extract for Christmas. I love it. I am working on my third gallon :) Hope that helps.

I’m curious why you take the beans out after 6 months? I use about 3 or 4 beans in a small jar and just leave them in. I’ve had mine in the bottle for over two years, and as long as they stay covered with the alcohol (I add more each time I use it), they are fine. The vanilla sugar does sound yummy though!

I bought a bottle of Perpetual Vanilla from Hartley’s Herbs at a craft show in Jacksonville, FL many, many years ago (about 10!). It’s the same as what you have featured here (You can use either rum or vodka as the alcohol base). I had one (small) bottle of the vanilla for about three years (I used it frequently and just added a bit more rum each time). I found it was less expensive for me to buy the kit from Steve at Hartley’s Herbs than it was to buy the vanilla beans on my own. If anyone is interested in ordering from Hartley’s Herbs, the link is: http://www.hartleysherbs.com/perpetual_vanilla.html They’re a great company (with which I am in no way affiliated)! BTW, their clove and cinnamon extracts are also phenomenal! (You can use the cinnamon extract for anything you would ordinarily use ground cinnamon.)

I posted below about the “Perpetual Vanilla” we bought from Hartley Herbs. I paid $8.00 for a 5oz bottle that contained the beans at a craft show. I just added rum. The great thing about this is that you leave the beans in indefinitely and you just add more rum each time you use it… so you end up with a LOT more than 5oz of vanilla. I’ve been using mine about 3 years, and I use it frequently. Eventually it does lose it’s flavor and you have to either add more beans or start over. With this size jar, it recommends you wait 4 weeks before using when you first add the rum, but you don’t have to wait to use it when you add additional alcohol. Make sense? Anyway, I LOVE mine – it has an unbeatable flavor when used in cookies, cakes, icing – you name it! You can do the same thing with cloves, cinnamon, and allspice! So, my point is, if you leave a few beans in the jars you give as gifts, they might be able to be refilled and used even longer… which further lowers the cost per 4oz.

I did this a few months ago! My bottle is nice and brown now…and it smells delicious! I can’t wait to try it- I didn’t use as many beans though. I think you can get away with fewer and still have a good taste. I know FDA mandates a certain # or amount or % or something to technically be “vanilla extract” but really, I don’t care if I meet their standards!!

I am new to your site and am visiting via another blogger who like you share the passion of eating and living better. I am glad I found this post… for the past several weeks I have been needing to get me the Vodka for my Vanilla Extract making as well, sadly husband is deployed and although maybe in my former rebel life going into a liquor store would be nothing, but because of the new found love I have for Jesus…. trying to go into a liquor store by myself has been quite the challenge…especially when I have my children with me… If Liqour was sold at my walmart maybe it would be easier… who knows but Liquor is only sold in well the Liquor stores…Wanna come to OK and we go into together.. ha ha

This is a great, funny, well-photo-documented post. Someday I’m going to run the numbers to see if homemade vanilla is really more frugal than buying bulk vanilla. Thanks for entering the Make it From Scratch Carnival!

I’ve got a few bottles of vodka-vanilla going right now in my cupboard, and I just bought a bottle of bourbon today to try making bourbon-vanilla. I buy my liquor, er, my vanilla-making supplies at our Class 6 on post (Army liquor store), and since my husband is deployed, the kids come with me…all 4 of them! I’ve gotten some funny looks, but no comments…not even the day one of my daughters asked loudly if “all of these other people were going to make vanilla too”. Ah, the innocence of children! Our infrequent trips to the liquor store DO make for some GREAT conversations in the van, though! Thanks for making me smile today, Laura!

when in Hawaii last year on a cruise, I toured The Hawaiian Vanilla Company. They sold jars with a vanilla bean inside. You filled the bottle with vodka, then kept adding vodka when it got low. It took 6 weeks for the vodka to ‘cure’.

Here’s a link to that product. I am not sure how many ounces it is, but you could get a jar and put a vanilla bean in there. Sure cheaper than 80 vanilla beans and a gallon of vodka.

BTW, it is the LAW a child cannot carry liquor out of a place of business. If caught, the business is liable for ‘selling to a minor’ even if they didn’t.

I have a good friend who also shared with me the method of making homemade vanilla. My kids were also with me when I bought the vodka at Sam’s Club!! I am thinking of making my next batch with either run or bourbon (the good stuff you buy at the grocery store is usually made with this). This does make very good homemade vanilla ice cream.

I emailed the Hawaiin Vanilla Company, the jar is 12 oz. You split the bean exposing the inner seeds, fill the 12 oz. jar with vodka. You then leave it for 6 weeks, as you use the vanilla extract, you replenish with more vodka. the bean just stays in there.

I haven’t used my bean yet, it is vacuum sealed inside the jar, so it isn’t moldy or bad. You have all inspired me to do this now.

I’ve order my beans and picked up the vodka. Now I’m only wondering what you use to give it in? Do you purchase glass bottles or jars? Or do you recycle bottles of jars from everyday? Specially Bottle seems to be the best online source for 4 oz amber bottle with caps, when you throw in shipping and purchase 40, it’s about $1 each. Not bad when you’re considering gifts for a LOT of daycare workers, family members, friends, neighbors….

I got my beans in the mail today (thanks Jill for the link), and ran to the liquor store. You’re right – I too had the need to explain why I was buying 2 big bottles of vodka as I was carrying my 22 month old along with my 5-year old. The woman behind the counter didn’t even bat an eye at what I was buying. I didn’t even need to explain it to my 5-year old. She did offer to carry one of the bottles if I took it off the shelf for her.
I ended up using 4-quart size canning jars as I didn’t have 1 gallon jar.

I stumbled onto your website and have to laugh at all the “embarrased to be seen buying liquor” comments. We must run in very different circles. No dinner party is complete without red wine. Any good BBQ should include a weirdly colored frozen drink that contains rum. Super Bowl and St. Pattys- you might as well get half a keg. Dont get me started on New Years Eve!! I dont think twice about buying liquor. Im more embarrassed to buy feminine products-and Im 42! I once went to a liquor store while I was 7 months pregnant for a get together. (I couldnt drink it, but why should my guests suffer?)You ladies come on over to my place- I make a mean pomegrante martini!!

I just recently started following your blog and I have to tell you that I love it! And this idea of making your own vanilla is such a wonderful idea! I can’t wait to try it. Do you know what happends if you keep it in the jar for say 10 months? Does it just get richer?

Wow that is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen!!!! I will be making some of this for sure!!!!! Thank you for posting the recipe. I do have a few question. Do you store it in the gallon jug? Have you ever kept the full amount for yourself?? Did it go bad after a while? Thanks for all your help.

I am wondering how long this vanilla will keep for food storage. Also, do the vanilla beans just disintegrate or do you have to strain them? I am also wondering where to find vanilla beans. I have often wanted to try different recipes that have used vanilla beans but I have never seen them at the grocery store before.

Just got my first gift of vanilla beans at Christmas and can’t wait to make my own vanilla! I got a laugh out of your post ~ I don’t drink vodka and the thought of purchasing a gallon would send me over the edge!

I was wondering if it matters what proof the vodka is. I know you said cheap was okay, but wasn’t sure of the proof. I’ve been making herbal tinctures with vodka, and I know it has to be 80 proof for those, so I thought I would check. Sounds great and I would really like to make some myself.

Have you figured out how this compares price-wise to commercial vanilla extract? Just curious. I am thinking it must be frugal as you seem to be =0) one of the reasons I now get your posts via email. Don’t want to miss one single tip. =0) Thanks,Kelly

Now it’s been about 10-11 months since you made your vanilla – can you do a follow-up? I’ve seen other recipes that used about 9 beans per bottle (and as few as 2 vanilla beans per bottle). So is yours really strong with 80 beans in a gallon??? And how’s the supply holding up for you? And the flavor?

Mine is very strong with 80 beans in a gallon…but that way I don’t have to use very much at a time. I gave a lot of it away at Christmas, but I still have three or four 8 ounce bottles left that I’m using. The flavor is FABULOUS!

I must say that you just brightened my day with this post (I received the link through email.) Made me laugh AND I now know what my entired family will be getting for Christmas. And maybe my MOPS group too!! Thanks for the great info!

Laura, what awesome timing. I’m frugal but my husband is cheap. Let me explain. It hit 89 degrees yesterday here in Indiana. In honor of that event, we made some vanilla ice cream. Yum. We used up all our vanilla extract in the process and my husband said we should save the bottle and make our own. I thought he was crazy but threw it in the dishwasher, just in case. I guess I’ve got my first bottle! Thank you! You pressured me enough. :)

I haven’t had much chance to make homemade ingredients before. I have a few quick questions.

Where did you get the gallon jar (I assume it is glass with a metal lid) and where do you find little containers for it? I would really love to make a batch to give to my multitudes of family members for Christmas, but I have no clue where to get the little glass containers, or any other sort to pour it into when its all done.

We get our pickles in gallon jars (I found out they’re much cheaper that way!), so I’m going to use one of those to make some vanilla. I don’t know where else you’d get one, besides saving it from food ~ I looked for a good gallon jar for years because I like to make sun tea.

Atwoods has a food and canning aisle and they sell all different sizes of mason jars. I was in there last week and saw that they had gallon size canning jars! Fantastic find. Now I can store my chicken stock in less than 10 leftover pasta sauce jars.

Nope, you can use Tahitian if you want. Madagascar beans just made really delicious vanilla, and that’s what was recommended to me when I was first making it. I just used those upon their recomendation.

Rebecca, I just read you comment about making vanilla as a Christmas gift and thought I would suggest how I would package it. I would take a pretty basket (look for them at yard sales or thrift stores, line it with a piece of Christmas material or pretty kitchen towel, add one or two mixes (these could be muffin, cookie, or cake mixes) and either use cellophane bags or pretty jars to put them in, then add a spatula, spoon or other kitchen tool, add your recipe(s) and a pretty bow. These are very nice gifts, for any occasion, and your bottle of homemade vanilla would make anyone very happy. Colored sugar, sprinkles and other small baking items could also be added to your basket. Most of those items you can find at a dollar store and buy in bulk and divide into smaller containers. Also, instead of baskets, you might try to find mixing bowls at thrift stores or yard sales to use as your “container”. Hope this helps. Teri

I was thinking of using the vanilla beans to make vanilla sugar after extract is done.
I have a recipe for very vanilla snickerdoodles that is DELICIOUS – everyone has raved about them.
I plan to package the extract, vanilla sugar & fresh baked cookies together for each person.
(the dough can be made ahead, rolled in the vanilla cinnamon sugar, then frozen in a single layer on a cookie sheet for 30 min, then put into a gallon size freezer bag – ready to throw into the oven whenever you are!)
Great if you just wanna make a handful for a quick freshly baked treat!

I don’t think I’d want to use vanilla vodka for making vanilla extract. I’m not familiar with vodka much, but I would imagine that the vanilla flavor in the vodka wouldn’t be natural and would mess with the awesome flavor of your real vanilla extract. I’d want to stick with straight vodka (not a sentence that I would normally say!)

Well, I decided I would ask my husband if he would pick me up a half gallon of vodka…. I should have waited until he was not eating to ask that I guess. He had a little trouble swallowing after that until I explained why I wanted it. We got a chuckle out of it though. He said we needed to find the vanilla beans first so we don’t have the vodka and not be able to find the beans. I would never have thought to do this. I am anxious to try it.

my question is about the alcohol content of the vanilla. is it stronger than the stuff you buy in the store? does it taste like vodka when it is done?

this sounds good. hubby and i were trying to figure out the cost comparison and to me it seems good. i priced the vodka today when i went to Sam’s club and a gallon would be roughly $20 so then you would have the price of the beans. would love to try this, not only for me but to give as gifts to my family (large one) and friends. only thing is i would probably have to leave the state but certainly the county to buy the vodka being a pastors wife and all. or i guess i could have one of my siblings buy it for me! lol!

It tastes like wonderful vanilla when it’s done (although I suppose if you tasted it by itself and not mixed into a recipe it would taste nasty!)!! I don’t think it tastes like vodka, although like I said, I don’t just eat it plain! It probably does have an “alcohol” type taste to it, but that’s pretty typical of all vanilla extracts. When you put it in ice cream or any other recipe, it just tastes like vanilla…SO yummy!

as a missionary living in a foriegn country I discovered how to make this from a former missionary. but vanilla beans are quite expensive so we do things a bit different with the same great outcome. get a normal bottle of vodka, put in 6-10 uncut vanilla beans and let sit. (you can pop the top off the vodka to put the beans in and put it back on for easy pouring! :) I do need to start another one, I am halfway through a bottle and in about 6 months I will need it.

I love this idea – sounds like a great economical way to keep vanilla in the house…and make some nice gifts too. Question – where do you find a gallon jar…and does it need to be glass? Also, where do you find smaller dark jars to store the vanilla in? Thanks!

I found your website by accident and have really been enjoying it. Was a little late finding your vanilla recipe to get a full 6 months by Christmas. Got my beans today and they are now being happy with the vodka. If I bottle it in mid Dec. and put a couple of the beans in the bottle with instructions to let it sit another 2 months, would that help? Also, when the extract is done, do you just let the beans dry and use in something else (like sugar)?

Howdy-
I am so intrigued by this homemade vanilla but, I don’t drink alcohol. I am wondering if you strain off the vodka or blend, puree , or what? Or does the vanilla bean dissolve? Thanks for inspiring to me.

I need to edit the post to explain what you do once it’s done extracting huh?! :)

After six months, you strain out the beans and tada…you have vanilla extract! All the goodness from the vanilla beans extracts into the vodka and THAT is what makes vanilla extract. It’s such a cool process!

Okay, so I was not thrilled about buying alcohol, so I did so checking and now have a gallon of (as my hubby puts it) “no-booze” vanilla extract brewing in my kitchen. It uses vegetable glycerin instead of alcohol…It’s been a few weeks, so I still have a awhile before I will know how good it turns out. Also, i would mention that if someone hasn’t gotten a jump start on the extract, that Vanilla sugar is awesome as well! The kids were able to help and it tastes completely wonderful in my coffee! They are packaging it for grandparents this year in a goodie basket. It only took about 1-2 weeks before it was just right and now it is just getting better and better!

my hubby searched out alcohol free recipes for vanilla extract. It’s technically called vanilla “flavoring” but almost all the alcohol free ones included it. I can’t wait to see if it works out well. It is supposed to do good, so now it’s just the waiting game!

I just “made” my vanilla using rum and my friend “made” her using vodka so we can trade off and see what’s best..
We bought our vanilla beans at Super Kroger..for about $6 for 2 beans AND save the glass jar for your vanilla..

Absolutely…the end of the posts gives you the breakdown on how many beans you’ll need for a half gallon or quart of vanilla! When I did a breakdown of the cost of real vanilla extract, making it yourself cuts the cost in half!

Thanks, Laura, for the instructions. I started mine in the summer with the Olive Nation Bourbon vanilla beans. I’ve started giving them as gifts this week, and friends are really excited about it. I counted 55 vanilla beans in the package I received and only paid $24 total after your 10% discount and free shipping! Add a cheap bottle of vodka and the price can’t be beat! Thank you so much for the great gift idea. (Yes, I’m keeping some for myself and look forward to using it.)

the latest coupon code for olive nation is “newy20” for 20% off your order :) i have some vanilla going in some recycled Grolsch bottles from August. just ordered more vanilla beans to make some more :)

The alcohol will cook out once you bake with it. However, my sister-in-law does not feel comfortable using it with her homemade ice cream, so she uses imitation vanilla for that alone. I believe it’s too small of an amount for anyone to even know it’s there either way. But do what seems most comfortable to you.

We did this as a MOPS craft about 6 years ago. That was funny bringing that much vodka into church! I am pretty sensitive to the taste of alcohol so I don’t like to use it in anything you don’t cook/bake like ice cream or frosting.

I’ve made it with both bourbon and vodka and bourbon is much better. It adds a lovely depth to the food you put it in. I would never make this in a gallon container – what a waste. You should not strain the beans out. You can keep adding more vodka (or whatever alcohol you use) to make it truly economical. That’s why I make it in individual bottles to give away rather than one big bottle. You can keep adding alcohol for up to 4-6 years is what I’ve read and done without a reduction in flavor. Just put a note on it for the recipient. And vanilla vodka is fine. Most vanilla (even imitation) is made with alcohol just read the ingredients.

I’ve been making homemade vanilla for some time also. I “brew” my vanilla extract in gallon containers to save space since I make a lot at one time to give away as gifts, sell, etc. I couldn’t imagine having 16 oz jars sitting in my kitchen brewing vanilla! Then I put the extract and divide the vanilla beans evenly among the jars so the people I gave them to could add more alcohol and keep using their beans. From my experience, there is a slight reduction in strength when I refill my bottles, but I’ve refilled a bottle as many as four times and I still think it’s better than store bought vanilla!

Also, my personal favorite alcohol to brew vanilla with is rum – it has such a good flavor! Although I usually make vanilla for others with vodka since I think it tastes most like what people think of as “vanilla extract”.

I have ordered from several different places but found Olive Nation’s vanilla beans (linked in the post) to be the best quality. You can find some cheaper beans but they are not very good quality. The prices at olive Nation are fair and reasonable…and their quality (as well as customer service) is hard to beat!

This sounds really neat. My questions are: 1. how much did you pay for your vanilla beans (qty. you bought), and 2. how long will this homemade extract last?? Does it also taste better? I hope you can answer these and I’ll be ready to go out and make my own!

I bought 120 vanilla beans for $50 which made 1 1/2 gallons of homemade vanilla.
This will last for years and years (as far as shelf life goes) but I usually give mine as gifts (which is why I make so much at one time). It tastes delicious and saves money too. You certainly wouldn’t have to make such a huge amount. My post explains how many beans you would need for a 1/2 gallon or for a quart of vanilla as well.

I have heard that bourbon and rum also make good vanilla. Do you know what the deciding factors would be in choosing bourbon, rum, or vodka? If I can bring myself to buy the alcohol, I would like to try it.

I gave vanilla sugar as gifts last Christmas (2010) and EVERYONE loves it and I still hear about it. Some use it in their coffee, others in their tea and I like to use it in my banana bread as a half of the called for sugar. I am getting ready to move away from my mom so for valentines day, I made a mini batch of vanilla sugar (a 4 cup container filled with about 4 vanilla beans and covered in sugar)so that as her supply runs low, she can just add more regular sugar to the container, shake it up and continue producing her own vanilla sugar! My Mom loved it as a gift and she is able to keep her and my grandma’s little sugar bowl filled so even she can have her favorite coffee flavoring every morning. It’s a gift that really keeps on giving.

so I just ordered my beans, bought the vodka, which had a $7 rebate fore two and a huge jar of pickles, um one thing how am I ever going to eat all those pickles? This is soo cool, my husband said no wonder real vanilla extract costs soo much its the alcohol. I am soo excited, its my first time making anything like this. The rebate worked well for me, I bout 1 lb. since its cheaper than 1/2 and 1/4 together. what should I use the beans for?

Hi Laura… where did you find a gallon sized glass jar? I have my beans (used your coupon code, thank you very much) and I went ahead and bought my little brown bottles too. However, I can’t seem to find a gallon sized glass jar with a screw on lid. I thought maybe I’d just slip the beans into the vodka bottles, but when I checked at the store yesterday it was packaged in plastic bottles. Would plastic be okay?

I know I’m not Laura, but I thought I might be able to answer your question. I bought a gallon sized jar of pickles at our local store for $4. I took the pickles out and cleaned the jar. It was perfect for this!!!

I make my husbands coffee creamer homemade. I use vanilla for flavoring in it, This would help save money seeing that I use a lot of vanilla in a month. I will definetly be making this soon! Thanks Laura!

It is
1 cup of half and half or heavy cream
1 1/2 cups milk
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract. Or whichever flavor you like.
Add all ingredients into a quart size jar and shake, shake, shake!
Lasts two weeks in the fridge. I dought it will last that long though. I make about two jars and week.

LOVE this idea! This “Southern Baptist” girl will have to direct any and ALL questions about the vodka to your website… : ) I can hear the deacons now… EEeekk!!! Seriously though – what a smart idea to have on hand for Christmas gifts!

I am having a hard time purchasing the beans. What quantity do you put in? I keep getting crazy prices. I was thinking I need a quantity of 11 to get 80 beans but the price comes up into the hundreds. Confused!!!

If you want 80 beans, you’ll want to click on the option of “1 pound of beans for $54.99”. That will give you a little over 80 beans. Leave the quanity as “1”, then where it gives the options for how many beans over to the right, click the arrow and it will give you a drop down menu where you’ll see the option for “1 pound of beans for $54.99”.

Thanks for the source of beans! I’ve never seen them that affordable before, and the discount makes it even better. I’ve been making my own vanilla extract with this method since the early 1990s when I saw it at a county fair, and it works great. You can’t go back to the store-bought stuff. Of course, I’ve never made a whole GALLON at once. I usually make it in an old salad dressing bottle with 6-8 beans, and that amount lasts me about 3-4 months.

Maybe I just haven’t found it yet on your blog, but do you have any suggestions for how to make your own orange or lemon extracts for baking? I’d imagine they’d be similar but I don’t have a sense of how much citrus peel I’d need, and I’ll probably collect it over a long period of time. Do you think I could just zest citrus as I bring it into the house and keeping adding to the same jar of vodka? Or do you think it would be better to dry it and do a big batch at once?

Tina, maybe this will help. I’m not sure where I got this recipe (probably surfing the internet). :) Lemon Extract: 1/2 Cup vodka and 1 large lemon. Use a vegetable peeler to remove peel from lemon (don’t get white part). Boil lemon peel and vodka. Remove from heat. Pour into small jar. Allow to stand for 2 weeks. I’m sure this could be done with an orange also. I have not tried this but thought you may want to experiment. :) Teri

This actually worked pretty well. I used limes because I had a few in the fridge. I washed them well, shaved them with a citrus zester, and packed the zest into an old spice bottle. I covered the zest with vodka and put it in the cupboard. I didn’t boil anything because I thought it would boil off the alcohol and undo what I was trying to accomplish.

Within a couple of days the zest had visibly faded to an olive green, and the extract smelled strongly of lime. It’s become more potent with more time (probably reached its max around 2 months). The zest doesn’t seem to have changed color after the first week, but the alcohol has picked up a light olive green color.

I haven’t tried yet, but I think I could use it in my cheesecake recipe that calls for citrus zest. And I’ll definitely try this method on oranges & lemons in the future.

Thank you for all your helpful tips. I got my vodka yesterday and found the Vodka 360 brand. I LOVE that I can use the bottle once the vanilla is finished and it had a $5 mail-in rebate making it cheaper then some of the other brands. I was also able to get the beans at a loca spice, tea and coffee store. They were $16.25/oz. I got two oz and got 18 HUGE beans. They’re so much better then the pathetic ones they have at the grocery stores. Everything’s done and put in the back part of my pantry. I can’t wait to use it in a few months!

Hey Laura was just wanting to double check as I thought I’d heard you say somewhere for a recipe that call for 1tsp of vanilla when using this version use 1/2tsp?!?! Maybe I am imagining things but I’m thinking I saw this somewhere :) Thanks!

When you see “vanilla” in a recipe, that usually means “vanilla extract” is to be used. However, there is this little thing you can buy at the store called “imitation vanilla” which can be used also in recipes that call for vanilla…but I don’t recommend it as it is not made with pure ingredients. So, usually…the term “vanilla” is just the short way of saying “vanilla extract”. They really are one in the same. :)

I have just a couple of quick questions…Has anyone tried this with vanilla vodka, and if so what were the results? Also if the vodka comes in a glass container can’t I just put beans in on top vodka? Thanks for any input.

My husband and I are opposed to using alcohol of any kind for any reason. We order alcohol free vanilla from Puritan’s Pride. Just wondering how to use the vanilla beans without using alcohol OR sugar?

This might be a strange question – but what happens to the alcohol content after the 6 months? I realize that if you only use 1 tsp. in a recipe and you bake it, that the alcohol will bake out. Does the vanilla we buy at the store have alcohol in it?

There is still alcohol after six months, and yes, that is what is in the vanilla extract you buy at the store. I never really realized that either until I learned to make it myself, but that’s what extracts are…alcohol. Our family doesn’t drink, but I am not concerned about using vanilla because we use such a tiny amount in each recipe. :)

I got my Olive Nation vanilla bean order in the mail today! Woohoo! My 8oz package of beans had approximately 70 beans in it. I made a half batch and used 2 quart jars. I’m wondering how often I should shake them up? Also, I put them up in my cabinet above my fridge because I rarely get in there and it’s where I have room. Is that an okay place for the jars to be or should I put them somewhere else dark?

I LOVE this!!! I’m making some for christmas present this year so I think I’ll start in July. And Mountain Rose Herbs is really the best place to buy the bottles. I’ve ordered from them before and was VERY impressed. I can’t wait to order my vanilla beans too. :)

I am so excited to make this, I got my beans in the mail and an ready to get started. I had my husband get the vodka for me and he got deluted vodka, we are not drinkers so is this standered and will it work or is there un-diluted we should have gotten?

Oh boy, I’m not familiar enough with liquor either to really know what to tell you. It will probably be okay, your vanilla just may not be as strong as if you made it with “regular vodka”. This just means that you’d use exactly what a recipe calls for, instead of with the vanilla I make I use about 1/4 or 1/2 of what a recipe calls for.

My vanilla beans arrived today! Right after dinner I combined everything and we even wrote dates on the calendar to remind ourselves to go to the scary part of the basement (it’s dark and out of the way) and shake the jar once in a while. I’m very excited to give homemade vanilla away at Christmas for gifts! LOVE IT!!! Thanks for the wonderful idea and recipe!

Just a quick question…I used some of my homemade vanilla the other day when I made our oatmeal…I like to put vanilla extract and cinnamon in when cooking the oatmeal. I could really feel/taste the burn of the alcohol when we were eating the oatmeal. Does this mean my vanilla isn’t quite done (perhaps I should have used more beans in my brew??) or should it really just be used in baked goods only?? Any suggestions would be helpful!!

I would much rather have alcohol in my diet then propylene glycol that seems to be in most of the flavorings now and is suppose to be so harmful to our health. Thank you for the recipe. Being afraid of someone seeing you buy alcohol is what the bible refers to as ” the fear of man” so not something we should do or need to fret about. Teaching children responsible use is best I think. I think the way it is done in Europe is far better and creates less problems with its use. Children are taught from a young age to be very responsible with alcohol. I was told by well meaning folks that the bible teaching drinking is wrong but it is drunkeness that is the sin. I wanted to know for myself and took each word of wine used in the bible and took it back to the orginal greek and hebrew. When they translated the KJV bible they used the word “wine” for grape juice, new wine, old wine, fermented wine, unfermented wine etc. Jesus did turn the water into fermented alcoholic wine. I think moderation is what the Lord was trying to teach us. But there are many reasons why someone may choose to stay away from it. Each family has to decide before God what is best for them.

If the alcohol is a problem, why not use organic vanilla bean powder. Make sure it’s brown (notprocessed/bleached white). You can use it right away(no, waiting months). No uncomfortable check-out store visits :)

Hello and thank you very much for this exciting idea. I am going to try too, and I just ordered my beans.
I have one question. I read in the comment section about the person who used too much of the extract in her oatmeal.
I am wondering how much extract to use when following typical recipes, as it seems this is significantly stronger extract. Is there a conversion you use?
Thank you very much,
Dawn

I tried using your discount code and it won’t take it…is it expired, and if so will there be another code?? This is the cheapest I found for the beans. My local store wants over $160 for exactly 80 beans.

Laura, I thought that I had seen you mention the bottle labels somewhere. Mind if I ask where you got them, or did you just print them up yourself at home? I have two quart sized jars of vanilla in the making and I would like to have labels for them when they are done. Thanks!

Here’s my weird answer to that question: They aren’t “certified organic” BUT, my husband has done quite a bit of research on vanilla beans and it seems that vanilla beans only grown in countries where they do NOT allow pesticide use. So yes, I feel that these are organic. I’ll have to pick Matt’s brain to learn more about this to write it on my blog sometime!

I realize you’re very busy this week, but I have my 1 lb of vanilla beans (wow!) and I’m having the worst time finding a gallon glass jug. Apparently I need to start buying honey in bulk? :) But I was wondering if it would work to buy “the good stuff” in glass bottles and put the beans directly in the vodka bottles.

Sami, to find a glass jar, just go to some of your local restaurants and bars. They use jars of banana peppers and relish and other things. just ask them if they have any and if they would save you one. As for putting the beans right in the vodka bottles, remember that you will not be able to get them out of the bottle in the end and they work great for flavoring sugar when done.

my bottles arrived and are soo pretty, now to find the time to fill them. I did order a blue one for myself, just for fun, its a great color. I ordered from Specialty bottles everything arrived perfectly.

Hi Laura…I just purchased and downloaded the vanilla recipe cards and can’t get them to print. Am I suppose to be able to print them? Thanks for the recipe…ordered the vanilla beans…just in time for Christmas gifts!

I make my own vanilla, too, only I use rum instead of vodka. I notice you posted about selling yours on your site. Do you have to have a license or approval for that since it’s food? Or could I just stick it on my blog and sell it?

hi dear laura, i just love vanilla n the thought of making my own is mind blowin! only,my family is really small,just 4 of us, so ur quart recipe,the smallest amount possible made me purr!6months is soooooooooooo far away!also, i already bought some vanilla beans at my local store, but im not sure if the quality is really worth the price or not, but do u think it will really make a huge difference?should i wait to buy really good quality beans or will the end result be ok?lol,am a novice, so pl bear if u find my requests juvenile!ur doing a truly great job n i soo love ur blog!ur cleaver writings are enough to tempt a person like me to cook, n that,girl,is saying a lot!thanks in advance n best regards,

I bought enough beans to make 1/2 gallon of vanilla. Can I put it in a
gallon jar or do I need a smaller jar? Any idea where I can find a
1/2 gallon jar?

I know this quite a few months after Monica asked this question,
but I thought I would let everyone here know that you can get
1/2 gal jars and other sizes from your local Ace Hardware store.

The 1/2 gallon jars are 11.99 for a box of 6. If you have them
order them and send them to the store there is no shipping
charges. I have ordered twice from them and just go into the
store and pick them up.

Oh man, I chuckled while reading this! I have been wanting to make vanilla for forever. In our state we can’t get alcohol at the WalMarts, so that means I have to send my Hubby to the liquor store. Considering they won’t let me take my kids in there. The nerve! Oh, and also, I can’t leave my kids in the running vehicle while I run in the store. The nerve! ;) Wish I would have started this sooner, it would have made great Christmas presents!!!

Greetings from Kenya! I started a personal batch of vanilla extract back in April. After viewing your site I took a road trip last month to a neighboring country to purchase vanilla beans. I’ve just finished two batches comparing different vodkas. Also met with farmers who grow vanilla beans and saw them still on the vine. I will be back for harvest time! Please share the sticker information (again). I am having trouble finding the seller on etsy.com. Thinking of selling 2 & 4 oz bottles at local farmer’s markets here.

When you give vanilla to your crafty friends/family as a gift: you can even leave a cut vanilla bean in the amber bottle and tell them to add vodka to it when they have used 1/4 of the vanilla! Also, they can appparently store that vodka in the freezer almost indefinitely. Of course, this has the vanilla beans in it & won’t be something you tell all your people that you give gifts to. Just aextra tip :)

I made my first batch of vanilla today! Yeah! I had a few extra vanilla beans left over can I ask what you did with your extra ones? Did you just put the extras in the jar? Thanks so much for all you do.

Big ol’ apologies if you’ve already answered this question and I missed it somewhere…but on the Olive Nation site it shows the vanilla beans in pounds…not per bean (for over 16 beans). How much poundage for a gallon of vodka?

Thank ya!

And thanks for the great idea…I can’t wait to shock my family and friends with the fact that I bought vodka. :)

I have done a variety of 2 oz, 4 oz and 8 oz, with 4 oz being my favorite. The size of bottles you choose with make the number of bottles needed vary, but one gallon is 128 ounces, so you can just divide using that number to figure out what you need!

Hello, I’m very excited to try making my own vanilla but was wondering if I would be able to use rum instead of vodka? I was able to get some at 50 cents a 750ml bottle but now I don’t know what to use the rum in, as we aren’t much of the drinking type so this would be perfect! If anyone has tried this, I’d love to know. Thanks :)

It would be best to let it sit again after adding more vodka, and since the beans have been used, the vanilla won’t be as strong. I recommend using adding less vodka the second time around so the beans can be more concentrated.

If the vodka bottle is plastic is that okay. I did everything that was specified. I am almost ready to pour into smaller bottles. Is it okay if the bottles are clear or do they have to colored glasses or should i put them in holders

I prefer dark, glass bottles, but having clear plastic bottles works too. Dark glass works better to keep the sunlight out of the container, helping the vanilla maintain it’s integrity. If you’ve got your vanilla in clear containers, just be sure to store it in a dark place!

I would like to dilute my vanilla to be comparable to recipe quantities. What do
I use to dilute, water? You said this recipe was concentrated and use only half, so if I
added 50% water to the finished product before
bottling would that be equal to recipe strength?
Does diluting affect the keeping quality?

One more thing…when the vanilla is steeping in the dark, is there a specific temperature requirement? Thank you!!

Instead of putting all the beans in a gallon jar and soaking the beans, can I put a handful of beans in individual pint jars, fill them with vodka and soak them in there. They will then be ready for gift giving. If so, how many beans do you all suggest to put in each pint jar? Thanks.

Hi Laura,
I have a couple of batches of vanilla ready to bottle. I have the bottles and labels made, do I need to go to a FDA regulated kitchen to bottle it, or can I just bottle it in my kitchen? I was wanting to sell them at the craft fairs during the Christmas season, I would greatly appreciate any feedback. Thank you!

I would like to dilute my vanilla to be comparable to recipe quantities. What do
I use to dilute, water? You said this recipe was concentrated and use only half, so if I
added 50% water to the finished product before
bottling would that be equal to recipe strength?
Does diluting affect the keeping quality?

I just came upon your page because I was looking to see if there were any drink recipes for using vanilla in, because I am making my own vanilla, and figured since it was vodka, there might be something interesting to find… but I find that I’m a little confused. I was taught to put 6 vanilla beans in a quart of vodka and it would take about a month, shaking the bottle every day. Now I’m concerned that I didn’t use enough vanilla beans. It has only been about a week and the bottle is already a nice amber color. The recipe I was following also said you could reuse the beans, if you kept about a 1/5 of the extract and poured more vodka in the bottle. Do you know anything about this? What are your thoughts. Maybe I should buy more beans?

My vanilla has been sitting for 5 months and it’s fabulous! We made tapioca pudding with it today and more than doubled the vanilla extract that the recipe called for just to try it out. No alcohol taste in the pudding, but good vanilla flavor. With that said, my family and I tasted the extract straight. Yes, there is a heavy alcohol taste. Then we tasted the extract that I had in my pantry from the store and it had a strong alcohol taste too. Thanks for the recipe. Any suggestions of where to get 2oz bottles.

I sure hope you aren’t completely weary of vanilla comments/questions…because I have yet another one for you. :) I bottled up my first batch of vanilla and it was a huge success! But I didn’t have the heart to throw away all these beans that still seem so fragrant and delicious. It seems like you suggested drying them out to use in sugar (right?), which I might do. But I also wondered if you think it would be okay to squeeze a little more life out of them by keeping them in my next batch of vanilla (adding new beans too)…and maybe just adding extra vodka? I guess my biggest concern is that I didn’t know if the beans eventually turn bitter or anything like that?

I was wondering the same thing. I just read this on Olive Nation’s website: “Both bean and seeds can be recycled for another sweet treat: Rinse and dry after using a few times and bury vanilla beans in 1-2 cups of granulated or confectioner’s sugar and cover.” That sounds like we can use the same beans again to make more vanilla extract.

Laura- or anyone who may know, I buy Mexican vanilla some times (live in the south- so its much cheaper & stronger than store bought) It says on the bottle- “mexican burbon” I am wondering if you can make the HOMEMADE VANILLA from burbon rather than vodka? & what the difference in tasted would be if any? Anyone know or have tried this? Thanks Bunches!!!

I have a question, I saw other recipes that call for many fewer beans with the same proof alcohol that have gotten great reviews. I tasted a friend’s that use one bean for half gallon of vodka. ONE BEAN! It was not as strong as store bought, but it tasted vanilla-ish. One bean to 40 beans is quite a jump, though and I was wondering what you thought about that.

Have you tried other amounts of vanilla bean or do you know others that have and if so, what was the result? I can’t get this wrong, my superwoman-ness depends on it.

from the reading i’ve been doing (lots since i like getting things right the first time), fda standards are 13.35oz if vanilla bean to 1 gallon of 35% alcohol. that is for single strength vanilla. so, 80 beans would be just about right for that (maybe even a bit shy). the fda does not say anything about the quality of the beans being used (possibly explaining the vast difference in all single strength vanillas). i just ordered my beans today, so i am looking forward to a new experiment next week!!

I too would like to know the approximate cost per bottle (please include # oz per bottle). I can get 8 oz bottles of Neilsen-Massey, the gold standard of store bought vanilla, (yes, I am a vanilla snob:) for a decent price at my local whole foods. Just want to make sure it’s cost effective to buy the supplies to make a small batch, say a year’s worth. According to a sales clerk at Penzy’s, vanilla is good for 5 years, but then I’d have to find a place to store it. Thanks!

Typically, as we’ve added in shipping costs at each of those three sites, they all end up being about the same price. We’ve enjoyed doing business with Mountain Rose Herbs for other items, so we’ve just stuck with them since their price was basically the same as the others.

I just did the math 6.7625 per 8oz. of vanilla. I invluded you cost per ounce, the price of the eight ounce bottles and ground shipping. In my experience that is a whole lot cheaper than store bought. I don’t think I’ll make this investment right now though because my mother went to the Christmas Tree Shop and got 8oz. of pure vanilla extract for $3.49!!! I’ve used McCormick all of my life and this “off” brand works just as great! The math is here though for anyone else who was wondering. I used the website ou provided for bottles to calculate my costs. :)

Hi there, I was wondering how well you strain your vanilla when it is time to sell your stock. I have tried to strain it through a fine mesh paint strainer from work and I still get some sentiment. Is that ok or should it still be strained better through a cloth?
Also after about 7 months and using some of the vanilla out of the gallon, can I add more vodka to it without ruining it–how much and how long do I let it sit again. The beans are still in the jar.

A little bit of sediment is fine. You could also try adding a little bit
more vodka without it hurting. As far as how much and how long to let it
sit, I am unsure. You probably just need to do a trial and see how it goes! :) good luck!

I read that you should add some water to the vodka so the beans don’t dry out. Is this a problem?? I want to make a quart and keep it for a couple years. Would I have a problem with it drying out or should I keep a bean in the bottle??

don’t dilute your vodka (or other alcohol) below 35%. you need that to do the extraction. i think you may have been reading about people using pure grain alcohol like everclear (up to 190 proof or 95%).

I am making some vanilla myself which I am so excited about! It has been sitting for about a month and i have noticed what looks like oil floating in it. Is that normal and should I strain it out with something or should I just leave it?
Thanks for any reply!

Just wanted to say that when I was looking at prices, it cheaper to buy 2 half pounds equaling $54. Instead of one pound for $54.99. Every 99 cents counts, right?! Then add the discount and free shipping, gets better all the time.

Thanks for the instructions and pictures. I’ve been inspired to make a batch that will hopefully be ready in time for Christmas! The cost of shipping to Canada from Olive Nation was a bit prohibitive, but I found the Vanilla Food Company http://www.vanillafoodcompany.ca has similarly priced vanilla beans and $7 flat rate shipping to Canada, in case any other Canadians are looking to source some good vanilla beans. I even splurged and went for the organic bourbon vanilla beans from Uganda! Now if only I could pop over to the US to buy some cheaper vodka!!

I wouldn’t use plastic. My vanilla sits in it for several months and that’s quite a while for plastic to leach into your vanilla. I don’t store food in plastic if I can avoid it. I got a glass bottle from Walmart and it’s not a dark color but it sits in the back of the pantry in the dark and has worked great. I’ve been making vanilla for about a year and it is so much fun and delicious!!!

I accidentally used Tahitian vanilla in my vodka and only now have read that it’s the wrong one. Should I get Madacascar beans and pour the same vodka over those and use the tahitian ones for perfume or something since the vodka cost as much as the vanilla? Or just use a more floral vanilla extract in baking, since Tahitian is supposed to be more floral? Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Olive Nation states: “The higher the alcohol content of vanilla, the better the quality and ours is 40% alcohol.” I ordered some vanilla beans from Olive Nation & can’t wait to try my vanilla! I will be using it for Christmas gifts as well.

Try makeing a pure vanilla powder from dehydrated vanilla bean. Grind it up and use only a eighth the amount you would in a normal recipe. No alchohol needed… twice the flavor and you can pre add it to mixes :). Google it for specifics

I am excited about my vanilla. Should be ready in August or Sept, I wrote on my calendar. Can’t wait to try it, Laura. AND, I did bury my extra couple of beans in some sucanut and can I ever taste the vanilla in everything I use it in. WOnderful!

I’ve made a lot of vanilla and have been using the same beans. When do I need to replace the beans? I have been using half madagascar beans and half Mexican which I like this combination. They seem to still be working. But, I have thought about buying some more beans to keep it strong.

I was curious on how you think it would taste to use flavored vodka like say orange vodka. And also how many vanilla beans would you need to use if you use the miniature bottles of vodka. I am opening a cake business and I think that the flavored vodka would be perfect and want to make a bunch of different flavors

I really have no idea on this one. I’m unfamiliar with liquor in general and have only ever used regular vodka to make regular vanilla. Regarding the miniature bottles, I’m not sure how many ounces those are. Since I use 20 beans per quart of vokda (32 ounces), I guess you could look at the small bottles and divide it from there? Your cake business sounds fun!

This is a little off the extract question, but I’ve been wanting to make my own vanilla, basically like essential oil, but to use a concentrated quality vanilla in my coconut soap shampoo, body lotion, lip gloss, as well as in the bath, in beverages like my coffee with raw milk cream, and whip cream, etc. Any recipes/techniques/ideas how to take advantage of these great beans and use them naturally in the applications I mentioned?

Hi Laura, My vanilla beans have soaked in the vodka now for a year, it is super smooth and wonderful. I bought brown 4 oz bottles and I’m now ready to actually bottle.
I have been using it out of my gallon jug and while I don’t mind the vanilla specks, is it best to strain it off? Would it hurt to bottle it with the vanilla seeds just removing the pods?
The vanilla I use to buy, from Penzey’s Spices, has a vanilla bean in each bottle, I also thought I would do that. Have you done that? Do you think that is ok to do?

HAHA! I had to laugh at your wal-mart experience! I am making this for christmas this year, and I have yet to buy the vodka. I’m sure my experience will be similar, I’m a substance abuse prevention specialist….I’m known to many students in the area as “the drug lady”. Or if they are underage and got caught “the fun-hater” I also work with businesses who sell alcohol, so I’m sure I will get a few “looks” as well :)

I am now bottling up mine after it has been sitting for 8 months (though I’ve been dipping from it for a while). I scraped the seeds off and put them in some honey, then put the remains of the bean in some sugar. I guess I should have dried the beans off first before the sugar though. It’s been a fun experiment and I’m going to get more beans for next year!

How long do you use your beans before replacing them? I think I’ve had the same beans for two years now. I got some Madagascar’s on sale but I mix them with Mexican beans, too, and I need to get some of those. Do you just toss them out when you replace them? Is there something else I can use them for?

I’m making vanilla. It’s been sitting for almost 6 months. We’ve been shaking it. Today we decided to open it up and smell it. It still smells like alcohol. Vanilla alcohol, but alcohol none the less. How should it smell? My hands smell like vanilla, so something is working. Should I test it out in a recipe before I gift it?

I had heard that the best way to test your vanilla is to put 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract to a 6 to 8 ounce glass of fresh COLD milk. If the milk is not fresh and cold, the extract will taste bitter. You may add a bit of sugar as well. Completely stir the vanilla into the milk. Sip the milk slowly while moving it over the back of your mouth and tongue. This will help yo to get the best sensation of the vanilla flavor.

Hi Laura,
Just like Lyn wrote above, I am making vanilla and it’s been sitting for 4 1/2 months. It smells like vanilla, but the taste is very strong alcohol, and I hardly notice the vanilla flavor. Should I test it in a recipe before gifting it, or is this how it is supposed to taste? I know it will be stronger than the stuff you buy in the store, but still- I don’t want to gift it if it’s not good yet! I have to admit I have not been faithfully shaking it- maybe once a week at most. Is this part of the problem??

I’ve had my vanilla sitting for just over 5 months. The color is not very dark. It smells like vanilla, however the taste is not very strong as compared to store bought vanilla. How deep does the color get? How strong should the flavor be? I’m rather disappointed because I wanted to give this as Christmas gifts but it just doesn’t appear comparable to the store bought kind. S Gould I add more vanilla beans and let it steep longer? Thanks!

I have no question, I just wanted to say THANK YOU!! I started on my vanilla around April and it was quite potent after 5 months, so I poured it into another bottle and reused the beans for another batch (with about 2/3 as much vodka as the first round) and it is looking perfect after a few months also. I feel like maybe I’ll never run out of it and I love it! I don’t bother straining mine.

If you want, you can let them dry, then grind them up and add them to homemade ice cream or other recipes. Or you can reuse them to make another batch of vanilla – I just use have the amount of vodka as I did for the first round since the beans are not as potent.

I dont have the beans yet, just ordered earlier today, but saw that you answered a question, by saying the beans could be dried out and ground up for ice cream….what I was wondering, to dry them could I put them in a dehydrator?

When you put them somewhere for 6 months, the dark place, should it be room temp., or could they be put in the basement (unheated)? Do I shake once a week or more than once a week, or less…maybe once a month? Just wouldnt want them to spoil.

Thanks for being so dedicated and having a great deal of patience in answering everybody’s questions – including mine.

I know I saw that one too on Amazon, but $25 for one jar makes my hair go up honestly!
I read that Walmart/Sams/Costco sells pickles in gallon jars for like $4 I think I’ll go that route, my goats will probably eat the pickles, b/c I know I’m not touching them LOL

I got a jar off of FreeCycle and our local Bible college gets items in gallon glass jars and they will give those jars away. Try places that feed people in bulk. Even our grocery store’s cake decorating department gives away frosting buckets that can be used for grain storage. I prefer glass but have never found anything for storing 50 lbs of wheat that is glass :)

Since this code has not expired, I just tested this. The code “home” did work for me. If you continue to have trouble, you might want to contact Olive Nation – they are very good to work with. One thing: Be sure you’re not entering any other coupon codes as only one will work (free shipping is automatic on this product). Also, I believe the code is case sensitive.

Nicole B. Reply:January 18th, 2014 at 8:40 pm

Go online and search for their coupon codes, I always find a 20% off and vanilla beans are always free shipping.

Although, the beans seem to be good quality, I will not be ordering from Olive Nation ever again. Their custsomer service is extremely poor. Apparently, they don’t value their international customers one bit. I won’t give my business to them again.

I also make my own vanilla extract. It is so lovely! I wanted to let everyone know that you can take the “spent” vanilla beans (the ones you used to make the extract) and add them to sugar (I use organic, raw, cane sugar). This makes vanilla sugar that is amazing in baked goods that call for sugar and vanilla. Sometimes I give a gift of vanilla extract, vanilla sugar and a cute measuring spoon set as a hostess gift or a much appreciated gift for the bakers in my life.

I Ordered my vanilla beans and received about 30 of them last November. I’m very happy with the quality, especially for the price! I’m finally making up two quarts of vanilla with these; one with vodka and the other with whiskey (I have trouble following recipes sometimes (: ) Thanks for being so awesome and sharing so much goodness!

How do you seal the small bottles after bottling them? My 21yo daughter and I made up a gallon of vanilla just 2 hours before she was ushered into Heaven. I want to bottle the vanilla we were making and give some of it out as gifts to some of her closest friends as they get married this summer/fall. It will be ready for bottling in another couple of months, but I wanted to have everything ready before it’s time.

I would try substituting them in some recipes while you wait for your homemade extract to steep. Cut one open and use the seeds in place of vanilla extract in any of your favorite recipes. It should work out well! You could also add some to a smoothie or yogurt for extra flavor. I might even mix some with cream cheese to put on a bagel for a treat!

Laura, I know you used Vodka for your vanilla. I saw in the comments that someone else used whiskey. The stuff I buy at the store is in bourbon – can you explain why the different alcohols can be used, and what real difference does it make?

Cindy, I have made the extract with brandy and it was really really good. I would love to make some with anejo tequila! I know people who also make it with rum. So feel free to experiment. Maybe try small batches with the different liqours. They do impart some flavors to the vanilla, unlike vodka. The fruit liquors would make an amazing extract too…like a citrus, orange, etc.

Hi Laura! Great info, I Have been making extract for a year or two and noticed you are selling it, have you looked into the legalities of this considering it is basically flavored alcohol? I am interested in selling my extract at farmers market and woneer if you have any info for me?

I’m curious – you say cheap vodka is fine. My husband thinks the more quality alcohol, the better the end result (which in theory makes sense – better ingredients, better extract). Is it more the quality of the vanilla beans that is important?

I just received 16oz of vanilla beans from Olive Nation and it only contains 63 beans. It was stated that you need 80 beans (about 3/4 lb) per gallon of vodka. Do I go by bean count or weight of beans when measuring out the amt of vodka? It seems to me that 16oz of beans should warrant at least a gal of vodka, but is that correct?

I ordered 1/2 lb. and got 92 beans.
So I used 40 beans/48oz. vodka, 25/32oz. Bourbon, and 25/32oz.Rum.
I read that the Bourbon and Rum give a different flavor and are good
for other uses then cooking. Do you think there are enough beans per
liquid volume?

Great idea on the bottles. I also found that you can ask to keep the little syrup bottle from Cracker Barrell which are the perfect size and are free! Simply peel off the label and fill with your extract.

I was curious about one of the labels from the Delight Design website. One of the labels said, “double strength”. Does this recipe make double strength vanilla? What is double strength vanilla? Thank you for answering. I can’t wait to get started.

I tried reading a lot of the comments to see if you had already answered this question but didn’t see it, so I’m going to ask away.
Could you use the the vanilla beans for another batch or are they “done” after one batch?
Thank you for your time.
Kim

I have been making this vanilla for 3 yrs now. Super stuff. I do repurpose the beans, just not in more vodka. Let them dry out completely. I add them into sugar. I typically make 10lbs at a time. You do need to shake the sugar every day or so, depending on how fast you want it done. I have mine in the kitchen so I see it every day and remember to shake. The longer its in there the more intense the flavor. I gift this sugar along with the vanilla and other stuff in baskets. Oh, I also cut a 2-3″ piece of the bean and include it in the sugar. Hope this helps.

Hi Ann! I’m interested in using my beans to make vanilla sugar. Do you leave your beans whole when you add them to the sugar? I’ve read different methods where people scrape just the seeds and others who put the whole beans into the blender and then add to the sugar. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Anyone looking for the glass jars, go to your local pizza shops and ask if they get any of their foods in glass jars and if you can have a couple of them. My local shop gave me theirs from the green olives they get.

Curious – we tried using this (just half what the recipe called for) in some homemade ice cream. Our ice cream didn’t turn out. We’ve now tested our ice cream maker again, using store-bought vanilla (still pure), and it turned out fine. Have you used this to make homemade vanilla ice cream? Can it not be done due to the high alcohol content? We can still give it for some gifts, and use it in other baking, but we were sure hoping we could use it in our homemade vanilla ice cream, but were so disappointed… Help?

Hmmm. That is odd. Laura hasn’t had this problem and I do not have an ice cream maker so I am not sure that we can be much help on this one. I am wondering though if the alcohol is killing the process…I wish I could be more help! Sorry. :(

How long can the beans stay in the alcohol? I don’t really want to buy enough amber bottles for ALL the vanilla we made – I want to just buy a few bottles to make up one quart jar, and leave the other quart jars “brewing” until we’ve used all the bottled stuff. But should it ideally NOT stay in the alcohol with the beans longer than 6 months?

You can absolutely let it soak longer. The only thing to be aware of is that the longer it soaks the stronger the vanilla. You may need to adjust to taste when you use it in recipes. It will be delicious though!

The vanilla beans you used were probably not of good quality. I personally would purchase beans from a different source and add them to the current batch. There is nothing wrong with the alcohol, therefore dumping it would be unnecessary.

I had the same experience with my homemade extract… I’d gotten beans through my produce co-op, added the correct number to the correct amount of vodka, and after 8 months it’s still vodka. I will definitely order more beans through the recommended business.
*** My 50-dollar question… are the first batch of vanilla beans okay to use to make vanilla sugar? Or, should I go ahead and toss them?

I did it! I finally got up the nerve to go and buy a bottle of vodka, and then I already had the vanilla beans from the amazing 20% off sale at Olive Nation, so the beans are cut, and steeping in the vodka in a jar in a dark cabinet! I am so excited! So, wondered what fun I can make with the remaining unused vanilla beans. Maybe 10 of them. guess I could have bought more vodka. But vanilla sugar sounds good!

Based on your recommendation, I am diving in to this project! I purchased the beans from Olive Nation, but only had enough $$ to purchase 4 oz. for now which looks like 25ish beans. How much vodka should I purchase and couldn’t I just drop the beans in the bottle of vodka rather than purchasing another jar? Sorry if these are silly questions, but this is a little out of my comfort zone! :)

Since the original uses a gallon, two 1.75 bottles, your could purchase one bottle and put half in another container since 20 beans would quarter her recipe. Or add a tad more than half vodka and put the five left overs. Split the beans, and put em in the bottle would probably be alright,being as hhow the main thing is for them to soak. You could save ur left over vodka for future batch or if you have a mint plant, they have similar recipes online to make mint extract, using a quart vodka, which would be ur half bottle you have left, and a half cup of mint leave bruised(rubbed together to damage the leaves) Then they soak it a month. Makes a mint extract. If you do that, I’d split the bottle, and use the five extra beans either in the vodka and just makes it a Lil stronger vanilla or do as others and makes the vanilla sugar. :-)

I’m assuming that the Olive Nation beans are not organic, unless I missed it somewhere on their website. I’m also assuming you’re okay with that, since you’re usually very thorough in researching such things. Any thoughts or reasonings on that issue? I made a batch of vanilla 2 years ago using the Olive Nation beans, so I’m not questioning quality or anything, I just thought I ought to make another batch and suddenly was curious about going organic.

They aren’t labeled organic. But my husband has done a lot of research on vanilla beans and found that there are actually none available anywhere that are not organic. They are only grown in a few locations in the world, and none of those locations use pesticides, etc. So while they don’t have an organic label, they actually are organic. :)

Excellent! Thanks! And thanks to your hubby for doing the research. I suppose I could have researched that more myself, but since my own four boys are currently 4, 3, 2, and 6 months, it was easier just to ask. :) I use your site for a lot of things — thanks for all your work here!

I usually buy imitation vanilla that isn’t too costly. What is the advantage of making your own because it seems like till you buy the beans and vodka it is going to be quite expensive. My mom always told me to only use real vanilla in vanilla icing recipes.

I avoid imitation vanilla because I prefer to stick with real food and avoid fake food. Imitation vanilla is a chemical flavoring, whereas vanilla extract is all real and natural. Plus it is delicious!

I thought I saw on here something you made up to put with your vanilla sugar and homemade vanilla when you give away as gifts. It was to tell the recipient what to do with it. Do you have this somewhere? I can’t seem to find it.

Laura, I ordered the vanilla beans just as you said. I ordered 1 1/2 lbs to make 2 gallons of vanilla extract. You said 3/4 lb. would be good for 80 beans. I have 130 beans combined, not enough to cover the 2 gallons as you suggested. Can I split them 65 & 65 or will that not be enough? I want to make it right away.

Yes that will work. I’ve noticed lately that the beans are bigger than they used to be, which might be why there are fewer beans in a pound. Because they are bigger, this amount will be just fine for your vanilla!

I am wondering I just got 146 bean in 1 pound. I did the 80 but do you think I should do more? I was going to get maybe another half gallon of vodka to do another batch. I noticed on some other sites that they have you do 7-8 beans per cup of vodka and then only leave it for about 8 weeks instead of 4-6 months. Is this because you are doing smaller amounts or are they just not getting as rich a flavor?

I am making vanilla for the first time. I started them in June. I peaked at them the other day and opened the lid. It smells more like alcohol than vanilla still is that normal? They have been soaking for over 4 months.

Laura:
I accidentally left my vanilla in the back of the closet for a year. Some how i forgot about it!!! Is it going to be to strong? My son was so excited to get the jar out and take the vanilla beans out so we took them out and it smells woderful!!!! Just wanted to find out if it is any good or not I would like to give as Christmas gifts!!!!
Thanks so much and God Bless!!!
Donna Peters

Vanilla actually is at its peak at 2 years of steaping, so you are good to go. I even put about a 3 inch piece of the bean in the smaller jars before sealing and giving as gifts so it can keep steaping.

I just received my order from OliveNation and I had over 90 beans in 1/2 lb. should I still use a full 3/4 lb for the vanilla extract? Or should I save them? What do you do with the leftovers? How long do they last?

The more beans you use the more flavorful the vanilla. You really can’t mess it up! If you want to follow the exact recipe that is great too. Vanilla beans can be opened and scraped out to use in all kinds of baking recipes. It gives fabulous flavor!

I ordered some beans and hubby and I were both so excited when they came in! I made some vanilla bean ice cream that’s amazing and got some extract started. Then I got to thinking…I wonder if I can make other extracts? Are they as easy as vanilla extract? So I did some research, and guess what? They are! I use almond extract quite alot, as well as orange and lemon. Its as easy as putting raw almonds into 80 proof or higher alcohol! Or scrubbing an orange or other citrus and then taking your vegetable peeler and peeling the zest off before you peel it to eat and tossing that into alcohol! I’m also going to make coconut extract. Just open a coconut, grate the meat and throw it into a jar with some alcohol! My brain is exploding in anticipation at all the amazing things I’m going to make with my quarts of extract!

Also, somewhat off topic, but did you know its so easy to make your own onion, garlic and ginger powders? Just slice thin, dehydrate until crispy and grind into a powder! I made some last week and it tastes amazing, so much better than the weak store bought stuff.

Hi! I am going to give this a go for Christmas gifts this year. Looking forward to it. Is there any reason why I couldn’t just put the bean right in the glass vodka bottles? Or should I look for a gallon jar to use instead?

I have made my own vanilla extract for years now. I have found it really only needs a month if you get the bottle out a couple times of day to shake vigorously. This is how a family friend of mine to make mine. Also add extra vanilla beans for greater flavor. I have also used the spent beans into a pot of cream while making homemade french vanilla ice cream.

I am going to make vanilla extract for the first time. I can hardly wait for the results. Another thing to check off my bucket list. Is there anything you can use the beans for after you take them out of the vodka? I am also giving a kit to someone for Christmas. I think she will love it.

I know it’s been a few years, not sure which beans you bought, but the Bourbon Vanilla Beans are not that price any longer :/ Seems to be the same price no matter where I’ve looked online. Was excited to see better priced than others. Not really :/

Yes! :( In the past two years, the price of vanilla beans has gone CRAZY because of a crop failure. I still recommend Olive Nation as a great source for vanilla beans, but their prices went up just as much. They assure me that the price WILL go down again, though it could still be a few months.